Faster than Fear
Posting this two days after Christmas, lol, have a happy new year, everyone! This will be my last chapter of 2024, my next one will be in the new year! Happy holidays and let's race on!
Italics will be for those trapped in their minds.
I do not own Dragon Booster, only my oc's.
Gwen eyed her three charges with narrowed eyes. "Well, I'm waiting. Where have you all been?"
She'd come back to the stables after leaving her wrist-comm behind, she'd been halfway to her apartment before she'd realized what had happened and turned Soundwyve around to go and grab her wrist-comm. She arrived at the stables and thought her charges were asleep in their beds given how dark it was, she found her wrist-comm and decided to check on them in their rooms, only to find the beds empty and the dragon stalls were empty too, so she had decided to wait for them to return, and now they have and she needed answers!
Iris, Artha and Lance glanced at each other, not sure how to answer her question without exposing Artha as the Dragon Booster. Finally, Artha stepped forward. "Gwen, this is on me, it has nothing to do with Iris or Lance."
The vet stared. "Be that as it may, Artha, all three of you were out late and I need to know where you all were."
"We were helping the Dragon Booster," Iris spoke up. Gwen raised an eyebrow at her and the teen sighed, she looked at Artha, who nodded his head. It was no use hiding anymore.
"Gwen, you may not believe us but… I'm the Dragon Booster," he revealed. Gwen's eyes widened in shock before they narrowed. "How do I know you aren't lying to me?"
"I can prove it," Artha said and gestured for Gwen to follow him outside. A bit apprehensive, the older woman followed the teenager outside with Iris and Lance following. Exhaling a deep breath, Artha pulled out his star amulet. "RELEASE THE DRAGON!" A golden light lit up the stables and Gwen shielded her eyes from the light, as did Iris and Lance so they weren't blinded.
Once the light died, Gwen lowered her arm, only for her eyes to go wide at seeing a gold-clad figure standing in front of her. "Artha, is that you?" she asked, stepping forward, the visor of the helmet lifted, revealing Artha's blue eyes. Gwen stared at him, looking him over. "You were telling the truth. But, why would you not tell me?"
"We didn't want to distract you from your work. We all know how busy it is being a vet, Gwen." Iris stated, coming to stand beside her brother as Beau poked his head out of his stall, in his black and gold form.
Gwen looked like she was having trouble digesting this information. "This is a lot to take in."
"We know. Why don't you stay for the night?" Iris offered for Gwen to stay. The woman looked at her before she stepped closer to Artha. "You are going to tell me everything, don't leave out a single thing!"
And so that is what they did, the Penn siblings, after Artha changed back to his civilian form, laid out sleeping mats on the floor near the kitchen since Gwen was staying for the night, it only seemed fair that all of them slept on mats rather than just Gwen. The siblings told her everything, how Beau chose Artha to be the Dragon Booster, how they helped him with various missions in stopping Word and Moordryd from starting a new Dragon-Human war, about Artha getting training from Mortis, who they introduced to Gwen the next morning and made her promise not to tell anyone.
Two days after the revelation, Artha, Iris and Lance were racing through the streets, just a friendly race between siblings. Artha whooped in excitement as he, Iris and Lance were neck-in-neck. "Yeah! The last one through the eye of the needle is a yellow-bellied newt!" Artha grinned as Beau pulled ahead, leaving Lance and Iris behind.
"Hey, that's not funny, Artha!" Iris yelled after her brother as Lance looked down at Fracshun, who was wearing blue balance gear, along with Prisma. "Do I look like a yellow-bellied newt to you, Fracshun?" he asked his dragon.
Fraction glanced up at him. "Of course you don't, Lance!" he squealed, shaking his head.
"Nope, Artha's just being a bit of a dork right now because he wants to win," Iris stated, giving Lance a smile of reassurance.
"Thanks, Iris. I didn't think so." both dragons made a sharp turn and came to a halt in front of an alleyway littered with bins and garbage. "Beau is super fast today," Lance noted.
"Yep, he is faster than us, but we can be smarter," Iris said, her icy blue eyes catching sight of the washing line hanging overhead. "Look, we can use that washing line to get across, follow me." she directed, activating her blue balance gear. Prisma leapt up onto the washing line and ran along it with the help of the gear as Lance followed her lead, the two dragons leaping down onto the other side as the gear deactivated and Fracshun grinned up at Lance.
"How was that Lance?" the young energy class asked.
"It was perfect, Fracshun, you have a strong bond with him." Prisma praised her young friend, who grinned at her.
Lance looked around, feeling a little scared despite Iris being with him. He moved Fracshun closer to Prisma, who used her tail to gently hold the younger dragon against her side. "Artha, where are you?" Iris called out, her voice echoing in the quiet.
"Artha?" Lance whimpered, and Iris rested a hand on his shoulder. "Boo!" Lance screamed and nearly fell out of his saddle as Artha suddenly appeared beside them, laughing. Iris gave him a dirty look as she helped Lance recover while Prisma smacked Artha on the head, electing a yelp of pain from the teen.
"You deserve more than that for scaring him!" Prisma snarled.
Iris reached over and smacked her brother's shoulder harshly. "What the scales was that for, Artha? You know Lance does not like being alone, yet you scared him!" she scolded.
"Ow, okay, I get it! But come on, you had to admit the looks on your faces were priceless!" Artha said with a slight grin. Lance folded his arms and looked away with a scowl before his eyes spotted a pair of underwear hanging above them. He smirked and lightly tapped Iris' shoulder, she glanced in the direction and saw what he was seeing. With twin grins on their faces, Iris reached out and tugged on the washing line, shaking the underwear free and causing it to land on Artha's face. That gave the two a chance to leave as Artha threw the underwear off.
"Why you pair of sneaky little scavenger dragons!" Beau raced after the pair. As the three siblings raced down the alley, they saw a large pipe in front of them. "The eye of the needle! See you both on the other side!"
All three dragons leapt into the pipe, sliding down like it was a slide. At the bottom, it was Prisma who emerged first, winning the race as the two brothers emerged seconds later. The dragons shook themselves as they recovered from the slide.
"Looks like you all lost this game, Stable Brats!" Moordryd suddenly approached with Decepshun snarling. "We can do this the easy way, or the Moordryd Paynn way." he bargained, taking out his blocking staff. Artha pulled out his own staff.
"When I give the word, take Lance and get out of here," Artha whispered instructions to Iris, who nodded. Artha charged at Moordryd and the two boys clashed. "Now, Iris, go!" Artha shouted.
"Follow us, Lance!" Iris urged, Prisma turning and racing for the exit, only to skid to a halt as they saw two other members of Moordryd's crew emerge from the darkness, one of them being Cain and the other Blair.
Lance yelped in fear as Iris took out her jakk-stick. Extending it, she narrowed her eyes as Prisma snarled. "Cover your eyes!" she instructed her brother, who did so as she set off the flash on her jakk-stick, temporarily blinding the Dragon Eyes. "Go, Lance, go!" she called as she and Prisma raced after them. Moordryd, who had recovered quicker due to being a bit further away, chuckled as he pressed a button, activating the rappel hook that latched onto the other side of the wall Prisma ran straight into it, snapping the gear as she tripped and fell to the ground hard with a roar as Iris screamed while she was thrown from the saddle and landed on the ground, rolling to a stop, unconscious.
"IRIS!" Artha screamed, seeing his sister go down and Beau roared as he ran towards them, not seeing the second rappel gear extend until they too tripped hard and fell. With both older siblings down, it was now easier to grab Lance, who screamed for his brother and sister. "IRIS, ARTHA!"
"We've got one of them, it would have been nice to have two of them, but that's enough to bring the Dragon Booster." Moordryd gazed at the two downed Penn siblings and their dragons.
Cain slapped a hand on Lance's back. "Move! Let's go!" he ordered and the boy and his young dragon were herded away into the alleyway, Lance glanced behind him. "Artha, Iris?" he spoke softly, worried for them.
Sometime later, Iris was roused from darkness by Prisma nosing her cheek with her nose. "Iris, can you hear me? Wake up!"
The teen's eyes opened slowly, her vision swam and her head hurt like crazy. Prisma stood in front of her, or was it three Prisma's? She couldn't tell as her dragon kept nudging her cheek. She groaned, blinking slowly as she managed to sit up, holding her head in her hands. "My head…" she moaned in pain before she glanced to the side and saw Beau was awake and nudging Artha to wake up.
"Beau, Artha…" Iris winced as Prisma gently helped her to her feet. The teen swayed uneasily on her feet and her dragon kept her close with the end of her tail.
Artha woke up to Beau's nudges and the teen sat up with a groan, he looked around and saw Iris standing unsteadily. "Iris, are you okay?" he climbed to his feet, much easier than his sister and hurried over to her.
"My head, Artha. It hurts." she groaned and Artha gently took hold of her face in his hands, looking into her eyes. He didn't see her pupils react much and he knew it was serious despite her wearing her helmet. "Alright, you need to head home to Gwen. I'll get Lance."
Iris opened her mouth to protest, but Artha shook his head. "No, Iris, you're hurt too badly. I need you to stay safe." he looked at Prisma. "Can you get her home safely?"
The hybrid nodded her head, magging her rider into her saddle. "Stay safe," Artha said, patting Iris' extended hand before he transformed into his booster form and they took off to rescue Lance while Prisma took Iris home to Gwen to get checked out.
Down in the wastelands, Moordryd and Cain herded Lance towards a seemingly bare wall with a large sundial altar with a purple stone in the middle and a dragon head type of thing. Cain glanced behind him as the roar of the Dragon of Legend was heard from behind them. He looked over at Moordryd. "The Dragon Booster is coming! Where's the track?"
They were in front of the door to the legendary lost shadow track. A track that only appears once during a specific moon alignment of the moons Drakkus and Abandonn. The door to the track will open up for a short amount of time and if you don't get out in time, you become trapped. After the nightmare he'd had due to holding a piece of black draconium from the shadow track itself, Moordryd had been ordered by his father to lure the Dragon Booster into the track by capturing his friends, in this case, Lance.
"Patience, Cain. We must wait for the moons Drakkus and Abandonn to be in alignment." Moordryd gazed up at the two moons as they slowly merged into one.
"Steady! Steady!" a blinding flash caused the stone to glow and cast a shadow that moved along the ground towards the wall, where it stopped and another small flash revealed the door to the shadow track.
Moordryd chuckled as Cain and Lance stared in shock at the track entrance. "The shadow track."
"Let's get him inside and get out, quickly," Moordryd instructed and both bigger dragons herded Fracshun inside with Cain holding a hand on Lance's back. A few minutes later, Beau and Artha arrived, skidding to a halt in front of the track.
Artha pressed his comm-link on his helmet and his screen popped up with Mortis on it. "Are you getting this, Mortis?" he asked his mentor.
"The ancient shadow track. Do not go in there!"
"But Lance is inside!"
"Lance…" Mortis trailed off, trying to conceal the worry he held for the young boy.
"My father would never forgive me if anything happened to my little brother and Iris would kill me!"
"He would be proud to hear you say that. Save your brother, but remember, Artha. Fear is an illusion. Only when you can be free from your fears, can you truly become the hero of legend." Mortis gave him some advice before the pair entered the track in search of Lance.
Entering the track, the pair were cautious as they approached clusters of crystals that held imprisoned dragons and their riders. As they moved past one, Artha stared at the human, whose eyes glanced at him rather creepily.
"Help!" Lance cried out, drawing Artha's attention to his brother and Fracshun, who was pinned to a wall with green trapping gear. "Lance!"
"Get me out of here!" the boy cried out in fear as Artha and Beau walked up to them. "Are you okay?"
"I'm scared, and where's Iris?" Lance questioned. "She's safe for now, don't worry, Lance, I'll free you, don't move!" as he used his jakk-stick to slowly free his brother and Fracshun from the gear, they were being watched from afar by Cain and Moordryd, who grinned.
"Cain, come on," he ordered his friend, making for the exit, but Cain was distracted by an imprisoned rider and was curious, he tapped the crystal, hoping to get some kind of response, but all that did was anger Moordryd. "Come on, Cain!" he snapped, his friend jumped and started to follow him towards the door.
Dragon Booster finally freed Lance from the trapping gear and the boy smiled. "Thanks." he expressed his gratitude to his brother for coming to get him. Outside, the moons began to split, causing the door to start shrinking, threatening to lock the four inside the track!
"No, the door is closing!" Moordryd cried, spurring Decepshun into a run as Cain and Coershun followed them. "Come on, Lance!" Artha urged his brother, who mounted Fracshun as Moordryd and Cain raced for the door, but it was all for not as the door shut on them, forcing them to skid to a stop.
"We're trapped!" Moordryd looked around as black crystals started growing on everything, slowly crawling towards them. "Moordryd, what's happening?" Cain questioned as Coershun shook a little in fear.
Artha and Lance could see the crystal coming at them, but they were stuck and unable to get out. "Oh no." Artha gasped. Moordryd raised his hands to shield himself as the crystal crawled up his and Decepshun's bodies, covering them and his friend and dragon in solid black crystal, frozen with looks of fear on their faces.
Lance looked around fearfully as Beau snarled. The crystal finally reached the brothers and both of them were frozen in the crystal, Artha was frozen mid-scream while Lance had a fearful look on his face. All of them were now trapped in their fears!
Artha lay on the ground before his eyes shot open and he sat up. "Huh? What, Beau?" he questioned, only for his dragon to appear beside him. "Where's Lance?" he asked, standing up, both took notice that they were lying in the middle of the stables, and Artha touched his dragon's nose. "What's wrong?"
"Look, Artha."
The teen gazed up at the sign, everything looked like it had before the fire happened "There's no fire damage. What's going on?"
"Artha?" the boy heard an all too familiar voice call out and he looked to see someone heading towards him, but due to the sunlight, he couldn't see them properly. He rubbed his eyes, hoping they weren't deceiving him as the form of Connor Penn walked up to him with a smile on his face.
"Dad?"
Connor stopped in front of him. "Did you get a good nap?"
"Your back!"
Connor chuckled, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You must have been dreaming. You're awake now."
Artha pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh, I missed you so much." Connor's smiling face took on a sinister look as the scene changed to Lance and Fracshun at the starting gate of a track.
The boy blinked in confusion. "What?" he looked around, seeing where he was before he saw two figures beside him. "What's going on? Artha? Iris?"
Both riders turned their heads simultaneously, showing their bright white eyes. Lance recoiled slightly. "Huh?"
The track glowed green and gates came down, Artha and Iris raced ahead as Fracshun tried to run, but his front right paw was trapped by a fetlock that locks a dragon's feet in place. The little energy class looked down at his trapped foot in surprise. "That wasn't there before."
"Huh?" Lance looked at the retreating forms of his brother and sister as they raced ahead, leaving him behind. "What's happening?" he knew Iris would never leave him alone, so for her to run off like that, he knew something was very wrong here!
The scene changed again, this time to Moordryd and Cain riding their dragons down a street, they came to a stop in front of two diverging paths. Moordryd looked over at his friend. "Which way?" he asked, sounding oddly calm.
Cain was not used to being asked to call the shots and looked between the two paths, stuttering a little. "I-I think we've already been this way. We have to turn!"
"Turn where?"
"I don't know. Anywhere!" poor Cain was starting to panic by this point.
"Why don't you decide for once," Moordryd stated.
Poor Cain rubbed his wrists anxious, unable to decide which way to go.
"Not so easy calling the shots, is it?" Moordryd questioned, studying his nails. "Or are you afraid?"
Cain stuttered anxiously, looking between both paths before he finally came to a decision. "This way." he pointed to the left path and Coershun raced down the path with Moordryd following, they rounded a corner and Decepshun came to a halt as two sets of massive metal doors slammed shut, separating him and Cain.
Cain turned around and saw he was without Moordryd, who was smirking at him from the other side. "Bad choice." he blinked and his eyes became white with a sinister grin. He started laughing and turned around, running off as Cain screamed for him.
"Moordryd? Wait, Moordryd!" the poor guy was alone with his dragon!
Back with Lance, he had dismounted his saddle and was using some light green deactivation gear to hopefully get Fracshun's foot freed, but it didn't work. The boy looked a bit dejected. "I wish Parmon were here, Fracshun. He'd figure some way to get you out of this."
"I'm here with you, Lance. You're not alone!" Fracshun rubbed his head against Lance's cheek and the boy patted the little energy class, his hopes a little restored by his dragon's presence.
"But looks like I'm gonna have to find Artha on my own." the boy gulped, not looking forward to it, but he needed to do this if he was to survive. Walking away from Fracshun, Lance heard a noise and he looked around, the track he was on briefly changed to the shadow track before switching back, Lance yelped and ran back to Fracshun, holding his dragon for comfort.
In his citadel, Word was watching four monitors showing Lance, Dragon Booster, Moordryd and Cain's brains and vitals. "Your fear is taking over you, my young adversaries. And to think, you haven't even moved. You never will again." he gazed at Dragon Booster's vitals while laughing.
With Artha, he was rolling a large barrel of dragon feed to a shed and lifted it upright. "Artha." Connor walked up to him, holding a vid-game in his hands. "Let me take care of that. The hard work can wait until tomorrow." he offered his son the game.
Artha's eyes lit up. "Aw, drac! Is that the new claw vid-game controller?" he took the gear into his hands. "Complete with the battle ground dragon expansion pack!"
Artha smiled. "Aw, thanks Dad!" he ran off to start playing, completely missing how Connor's eyes changed to a vivid white colour.
Lance hung his head, shoulders slumped. "I can't go, I'm afraid," he admitted.
"I'm scared too, Lance, but I can't move, you can!" Fracshun gently shoved Lance forward, the boy yelping as he staggered and fell right through the rail of the track, disappearing.
"Lance? Where did you go?" Fracshun asked in surprise, looking around for his rider and Lance popped his head back. "Did you see that?"
"Yes, I did, but how is that possible?"
Lance fully stepped through, like he was coming out of a river, only he wasn't soaking wet. "This place can't be real." he walked back over to Fracshun. "I've got an idea." he reached into his saddle and pulled out his drag-wing board, extending it from its folded position. "My drag-wing should do the trick." he mounted his saddle holding his board.
"I need you to mag me as far as you can."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Quick, before I change my mind."
"Okay, here goes." Fracshun glowed brightly and magged his rider into the air, Lance yelped, but jumped onto his drag-wing board, riding it towards the track and straight through!
In the real world, the prison containing Lance and Fracshun glowed before they both were freed from it. Lance gave a triumphant grin. "Yeah, I knew it!" he had conquered his fear!
Artha sat in his father's chair in his office, competing in a game when Connor entered. "Artha, how's the game?" he came to stand beside him.
"It's awesome, thanks, Dad." Artha thanked him. Connor rested his hand on his shoulder. "I was wondering if I could get something from you?"
"Sure, whatever."
"The amulet. I need it back." Connor requested.
"But why?"
"Things have changed, Artha. Dragon Booster isn't needed anymore."
Artha was shocked by that response. "What?" he stood up, forgetting the game for now. "But what about uniting dragons and humans? Stopping Word Paynn and the dragon-human war?"
"There is no danger anymore," Connor assured him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "And besides, being a hero isn't easy for a young boy. It's a lot of responsibility." Connor gently walked the teen away from the desk while he spoke.
Artha looked down. "Yeah, it is. I'm always afraid I'll let you down, or Iris, or Lance. Fail them all somehow."
"Well, you won't have to be afraid of failing anymore." Connor held out his hand. "Give me the amulet?" Artha looked a little uncertain by this.
"I'm your father, Artha, trust me."
Artha took out the amulet, staring at it for a long while before he finally relinquished it to Connor, who curled his hand around it tightly.
Beau was in his stall, eating when he saw the amulet dangling by its cord. "What? Why do you have it?"
"Oh, you look surprised, Beau, I guess you didn't expect him to give it up so easily." the dragon stared as Connor dropped it into Moordryd's waiting hand. "But then, maybe you chose the wrong rider to be Dragon Booster." Moordryd held up the amulet as he started laughing while Beau roared.
"That's not yours!"
Coershun cautiously made his way down any alley, wary as Cain took notice of a shadow that growled as it grew bigger and roared. "No! It can't be! Where are you, Moordryd?" he whimpered fearfully.
Moordryd and Decepshun raced down a road and the boy could hear his father's scolding words in his head. "When's the last time you won a race? You're a disgrace to the name of Paynn! You're supposed to be a winner!"
The teen shook his words away. "If I can survive the shadow track, my father will never question my leadership again! Nobody will!" he declared, tilting his pedal a little and red thruster gear materialised on Decepshun's flanks, bursting to life and sending them shooting forward.
Word gazed at Moordryd's vitals on his screen. "You surprise me, son. You have your mother's bravery." he clasped his hands together, looking almost proud.
Artha was in another race, overtaking the other player before the screen flashed with the words game over. Sighing, he put the controller down, his eyes moving to the framed photo of him, Lance, Iris and Connor all together. His brows furrowed, he hadn't seen Iris anywhere since he woke up. Where was she and was she safe?
As he gazed at the photo, it suddenly changed, becoming a charred smaller photo with no frame, he looked up, and saw the office with the fire damage. His eyes widened as he realized just what was happening. "The shadow track! The illusion!" he stood up, facepalming himself for being such an idiot. "Oh no. What have I done?"
He raced out of the damaged office. "Dad? Dad?" he came to a halt in front of Beau's stall where he saw the amulet hanging from Moordryd's hand, who was laughing as he sat in Beau's saddle. Artha looked in despair as Moordryd placed the amulet around his neck. "NOOO!"
Dragon Booster's vitals were beeping as his heart rate was becoming faster as his fear grew stronger. The beeping alerted Word, who looked over and grinned. "Yes, unlike my son, you have let your fears get to you. You have chosen your illusion and trapped yourself."
Moordryd continued laughing as Artha looked at his dragon. "Beau?"
Beau snarled at him. "You're not my rider!" he turned his head away from Artha. Artha's face grew solemn as Connor walked up to Beau. "A true Dragon booster takes care of his dragon, and he doesn't run from his responsibilities." he pointed his finger at Artha with an angry look in his eyes. "You were afraid to fail and now you have failed forever!"
"Artha!" Lace cried out, standing beside his trapped brother, trying to somehow get to him. "Artha, don't be afraid. It's not real!" those words echoed as Artha looked around, hearing Lance and remembered the advice Mortis had given him. Remember Artha, fear is an illusion!
He took a step, his foot vibrating the ground and he knew all this was just in his head. "Give me back my amulet?" he demanded his amulet back, holding out his hand.
"The Dragon of Legend belongs to Moordryd now!"
"Fight it, brother! Don't be afraid!" Lance begged as Dragon Booster's fear went up higher and Word laughed. "Artha!" Lance screamed and cracks started spider-webbing their way along the prison encasing his brother and Beau.
Artha groaned, taking control of himself. "I don't know who you are!" He took another step forward, more ripples vibrating. "But you are not my father!" he pointed a finger at Connor, who had a shocked look on his face.
"And if there's one thing I do know, it's that I…" he took another step, cracks forming and growing outwards. "Am the true…"
Lance backed up as the prison his brother was trapped in began glowing brightly.
Cracks formed and overlapped each other as Artha declared himself. "Dragon Booster! Beau!" his dragon roared as the light glowed brightly, forcing Moordryd and Connor to shield their eyes and the amulet flew into Artha's hands.
The prison shattered apart, freeing Artha and Beau, who both stood proudly. Lance grinned, happy to see him. "You did it, Artha!"
Artha smiled, happy to see his brother was alright. "Am I glad to see you? Come on, let's get out of here."
Lance looked over at Moordryd and Cain. "We can't leave them here. They don't know they're trapped."
"Then we need to tell them."
Lance smiled. "Let's do it!
Moordryd raced down the road. "Finally, father, you'll be proud." then his eyes widened as he saw something up ahead. "What?" Lance Penn and the Dragon Booster appeared seemingly from nowhere.
Moordryd refused to let them interfere. "No." he activated his red thruster gear and Decepshun leapt over them. "Moordryd, wait! It's the shadow track!"
Beau and Fracshun took off after Decepshun as she landed and Dragon Booster came up alongside Moordryd. 'Stop racing, Moordryd. It's an illusion, the shadow track, remember? We're all trapped, but maybe there's a way out, together."
"No!" Moordryd cried, a blocking staff materializing in his hand and he swung it at Dragon Booster, who gripped the top of it tightly. "What are you afraid of? Losing races? This isn't about making your father happy. It's about saving yourself from what you fear!" his words seemed to make Moordryd realize that something was indeed wrong and he let go of the staff, Dragon Booster dropped it as Moordryd pulled back on the handles and Decepshun came to a stop as Beau and Fracshun did the same.
Moordryd looked around as the scenery changed back to the shadow track. He gazed at Dragon Booster, stunned. "Is it possible?"
Beau nodded. "Indeed it is."
"You better believe it!" Dragon Booster grinned, glad Moordryd was freed. Moordryd looked over at Cain who was still strapped. All around them, the crystal prisons containing the trapped dragons and riders began glowing brightly before they were released after who knows how long. Moordryd looked around, seeing the place starting to collapse. "What's happening?"
Dragon Booster shielded his head. "Us escaping the track has made the whole place unstable!" Cain was released and he looked himself over frantically. "Let's get out of here!" Dragon Booster led the way towards the exit, jumping right through the wall like it was made of water, the trapped riders and their dragons all following to freedom!
The screens in his citadel became static as Word growled. "What? It can't be! They escaped the shadow track!"
Dragon Booster, Moordryd and Lance watched as the dragons and their riders raced away. "Wow, look at them go."
Dragon Booster watched them. "Yeah. I wonder who we just set free?" as he asked this, something shadowy flew past his visor, yet he didn't see it.
"Well, I guess I owe you thanks, Dragon Booster." Moordryd, in a shocking turn, thanked the hero.
"Huh?" was he hearing things or was Moordryd actually thanking him for his help? He stared at the teen with a bit of a shocked look on his face.
"But, uh, I'll have to get back to you on that." Moordryd then left the two brothers, who smiled at each other, glad the other was safe. "Come on, let's get home and make sure Iris is okay."
The two raced back to Penn Stables where they found Gwen tending to Iris, who lay in her bed. The vet had expressed her relief that the two boys were safe and explained that Iris was okay, with a slight bump on the head, but nothing serious. The brothers were happy to hear that and hugged their sister tightly, who was happy to have them home!
Not far from his compound, Moordryd and Decepshun were wandering down an alleyway, Moordryd was thinking about what had happened in the track when a noise behind him made him turn around, just in time to see a freaked-out Cain and Coershun round the corner and shoot past them, startling Moordryd, thinking it was over, he relaxed, only to nearly fall out of his saddle as Cain suddenly appeared in front of him. "It's coming."
Cain stared over Moordryd's shoulder, seeing the same shadow he'd seen in the shadow track grow larger. "It was in the shadow track, and now it's out!" Cain screamed as his dragon took off. Moordryd looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened as he saw the shadow, but it was not a massive dragon that came around the corner, it was a small yellow-bellied newt with blue bulging eyes that walked on two legs. Moordryd groaned in frustration. "It's only a yellow-bellied newt, Cain!" he yelled after his friend as the little creature stuck its tongue out.
Not my best work, but I did my best. Enjoy everyone and I shall see you in 2025! Peace out!